black uniform in wear, October 1942....

Article about: This man apparently received the Knights Cross of the War Service Cross without Swords in the fall of 1942, no doubt for some great achievement in the agricultural sector.... Ernst Ritter, w

black uniform in wear, October 1942....

This man apparently received the Knights Cross of the War Service Cross without Swords in the fall of 1942, no doubt for some great achievement in the agricultural sector.... Ernst Ritter, whose SS unit is unclear.

Notice the black SS uniform in wear well beyond the supposed point at which (according to collector lore) it was replaced by the grey uniform. I assume this man was in a part time billet in the Allgemeine SS.

Re: black uniform in wear, October 1942....

My friend, your subject is Dr. Alfred Eckhardt. Eckhardt was a career Kreigsmarine officer who from the Weimqar Republic era forward served in the administrative branch. He served at the rank of admiral and was the head of the construction department of the Kreigsmarine. As the picture affirms, he was also an officer in the Allgemeine SS. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of The War Service Cross without swords on December 7, 1944. This is the latest photograph I have seen that documents wearing the black uniform throughout the war.